Gibara, in the province of Holguín, witnessed an impressive storm surge with waves several meters high following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
According to the report from the telecenter Gibaravisión, the hurricane caused material damage to homes, workplaces, and schools, although there were no loss of human lives, and urged the population to maintain discipline and calm.
At 11:00 a.m., the center of Melissa —still a category 2 hurricane— was located approximately 35 kilometers north of Punta Lucrecia (Holguín), with maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h and movement toward the northeast at 22 km/h.
Despite its distance, the system continued to generate abundant areas of showers and rains over eastern Cuba, conditions that sustained the rough seas along the northern coast, including that of Gibara.
The maritime outlook has become particularly dangerous in the coastal strip of Holguín: wave heights fluctuated between 4 and 6 meters and could reach peaks of up to 7 meters in sections of the northern coastline of Holguín and Las Tunas, causing coastal flooding from moderate to severe in low-lying areas.
The authorities warned that, although the swells would tend to decrease on the southeastern coast, in the north, they would persist for several more hours.
The atmospheric instability persisted with clusters of rain and thunderstorms, particularly in Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo.
The rain gauge network of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources recorded exceptional behavior: around 69 stations exceeded 100 millimeters, and seven could surpass 300 millimeters, evidence of the intense nature of the rainfall associated with Melissa.
As the system moved away more rapidly to the northeast, forecasts indicated that the lingering moisture would continue to fuel showers in the eastern part of the country for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, in Gibara, monitoring continued due to the residual waves and their effects on infrastructure and neighborhoods near the coast, in a context where the authorities insisted on avoiding exposure to the sea and following the civil protection guidelines.
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